Wednesday's Republican primary presidential debate at the Mesa
Arts Center will be closed to the public, but the city will host a
viewing party downtown where thousands can gather to watch the
event live.

Downtown will have plenty of room for spectators despite tight
security and road closures, City Manager Chris Brady said. A
14-foot by 20-foot screen will show the debate, with live bands and
food vendors nearby.

Mesa talked with other debate hosts about security provisions but
heard nothing about viewing parties.

"We haven't been able to find anybody that's done that," Brady
said. "Maybe it happened but it's never shown up on the radar. CNN,
when we asked them, said ‘We never thought about that.'"

Mesa is working to take advantage of being in the spotlight for the
first presidential debate it's ever hosted. The city has already
done some spring cleaning and is posting festive banners as it
prepares for 400 journalists who CNN said to expect in its media
tent.

Downtown will remain accessible except for Main Street and Center
along the arts center. The roads are closing for security
reasons.

Also, the adjacent eight-story office building owned by the Mesa
Unified School District will close in the afternoon. The closure
won't affect school operations, district spokeswoman Helen Holland
said.

A fence will surround the arts center campus, which debate host CNN
is renting; CNN is also putting up the media tent for hundreds of
reporters.

Even protestors will have an area. Some anti-war demonstrators have
already called Mesa to inquire about the site, Brady said.

Mesa is hoping the debates draw a huge crowd to showcase its
downtown, Brady said.

"If they couldn't get in, we want them to come and enjoy our
viewing party," he said. "We don't know - we can only hope maybe
some of the candidates will actually come out and talk to
people."